


Sweet Old Fashioned Notion

by spiritofsnows



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: 5+1 Things, F/M, Fake AH Crew, Geoff and Jack are only there for three seconds but whatever, I fixed the tags so I don't sound like a raving lunatic, don't do crimes children, rated T for crimes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-16
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-02-03 08:36:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12744804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritofsnows/pseuds/spiritofsnows
Summary: Five times they ran into each other and the one time it stuck.





	Sweet Old Fashioned Notion

**Author's Note:**

> i suffered

1  
The first time they meet, they are scoping out the same target from what is objectively the Best Rooftop For The Task. It happens like this:  
He opens the rooftop access door and stops dead. There's a woman standing by the edge, red hair blazing in the noon sun, and he wasn't expecting any witnesses. He can deal with that. As soon as he takes a step though, she's pointing a gun at him: surprising and enlightening. They size each other up for a long, tense moment.   
“So,” she says, breaking the silence, “they've sent the Vagabond.”  
“And you're the infamous Doll.”  
“Did that guy really find out about the assassins this fast?”  
“I sure hope not.”  
She gives him a measuring look. “Same job?”  
“Same job.”  
Her laughter as she lowers the gun is bright and startling. “As you were,” she says grandly and gestures expansively with her binoculars. He hesitates a moment before stepping up beside her, but they settle in comfortably to pass the time in synchronized stalking.   
At length, she speaks again:  
“So. If I'm an infamous assassin, and you're an infamous assassin, we should have a competition.”  
“A competition.”  
“A race, if you will. Whoever gets this guy first is the better infamous assassin.”  
He thinks about this for a moment. It's been awhile since he's had a challenge. “Alright. So when do we start?”  
She answers from farther away than he was expecting. “Now's good!” she says, and closes the door behind her.  
“Wait what??”

It's possible that she may be the better infamous assassin. When he opens the door to the room, he finds a bloody corpse and a note on the table. (Better luck next time! <3 you! -Doll)  
Ryan isn't too upset. His employer asked for a dead man and the man is definitely dead. The cause isn't that important.  
(The note gets tucked away and kept for a long time)

2  
When she appears at the window he had been attempting to climb through, it does not startle him. Which is a good thing, as he is on the outside of the building and it is a long way down. (He also definitely does not make any noises which might be considered unmanly.) It does, however, startle her and she very quietly makes several unmanly noises before moving out of the way. He climbs in with all the grace of a leopard or a drunk housecat. The room he finds himself in is a warmly lit and well appointed study, away from the noise of the party. The wall safe is open . He raises an eyebrow and she tosses her hair with an aggressively nonchalant look on her face.  
“So, who's up this time?” she asks, leaning on a convenient table. He sees no reason not to answer her.  
“The host.”  
“Aiming high, I see.”  
“It pays the bills”  
“Ain't that the truth.”  
A moment passes in awkward silence.  
“Well. I'm gonna go murder a man now.”  
“Have fun!”  
“Thanks. You, uh, look great, by the way.”  
She smirks. “Get out of here.”

3  
The third time, he leaves _her_ a note.   
Specifically, a note wishing her the joys of the season, next to the guy he's left tied up in the corner. He's even added one of those stick-on present bows. He leaves the guy with a jaunty wave and makes his exit while whistling a cheery Christmas tune.

He watches her find her present through a scope, from a safe distance. She looks up and smiles like she knows exactly where he is and he feels it like an unexpected punch to the heart. 

4  
Blaming a hitman can be a bit like blaming a hammer, but some people just don't get it.  
This is the reason why he finds himself handcuffed to an old pipe in a warehouse. A disappointingly sturdy old pipe. His current captor has been villain monologuing at him for a while now while the minions pack up the operation. It's not particularly interesting. The whole concept could have been taken care of in a single sentence. (“My rival paid you to kill my relative, so I will now set this building on fire with you in it.”) He thinks it's a lot of property damage for one man, but he keeps his opinions to himself.  
She has his attention as soon as she's in his line of sight. The Doll at work is cold and beautiful and utterly untouchable. He notes idly that she's dyed her hair purple since last time. It's nice. Her arrival must be the cue his captor was waiting for because the man says, “I'll be there in a second, beautiful. I'm just saying goodbye to our guest.”  
Her eyes widen in shock for just a moment when she sees that it's him before settling back into her previous cool expression, but just a moment was too long. The man’s eyes narrow.  
“You know each other?”  
“Old flame,” she answers dryly and leans against the table. The man laughs like it’s the funniest thing he's ever heard. They exchange an unamused look that thankfully goes unnoticed.  
“Well, you won't have to worry about him now,” the man says with an unpleasant smile. “Let's go.”  
“Maybe a kiss goodbye first?” she asks and hides a giggle behind her hand. The man waves her forward and laughs again, but Ryan ignores him, eyes locked on the Doll as she leans in. The feeling of her lips on his is bizarrely comforting, considering the circumstances, and he participates enthusiastically in this last/first kiss until he feels the clink of metal against his teeth.   
She pulls away and leaves without a backward glance.   
He watches her go, turning the key over in his mouth and wondering.

5   
The abandoned factory on the river at the edge of town was the sort of hideout you picked if you had wanted to be a Batman villain when you grew up. He is careful not to mention this to his current employer, as it's not the kind of statement that tends to go over well. (He's not sure why he keeps running into these people.) The boss is giving him the “grand tour”, leading him through a labyrinth of halls and catwalks and rambling endlessly about the state of operations and plans for expansion. He kinda zones out for most of it. He tunes back in when the monologue gets to the bit about infamous assassins, (because hey! that's him!) but the man throws open a door to small room. There's a woman there tied to a chair and she's --  
He's rushing to free her before the body hits the floor. She stares at him in shock for a moment before laughing in a way that sounds like it hurts.  
“Well,” she says rubbing at her newly freed wrists, “Who's gonna pay you now? Hope this is worth it, Vagabond.”   
He really hopes the expression on his face is a smile.

Escaping is harder than he would have expected, had he been expecting to have to escape. Turns out people get really upset when you shoot their boss. Who knew? They hastily duck into a small room to consider their options.   
“How bout it, Vagabond, any more ideas? Cause it looks like we're fucked.”  
“Ryan.”  
She blinks at him. “What?”  
He clears his throat awkwardly. “My name. Is Ryan. So you know.”  
“Oh. Well, um. I'm Meg. Lovely to meet you Ryan.” She offers him a bloody hand to shake. It takes a bit of weapon and Meg shuffling, but they shake hands in only slightly awkward silence.  
A quick glance around the room reveals a pile of sticky bombs.   
“I have a plan. ” 

Several dead bodies later, they've made it outside and he's delicately installing her on his bike.   
“This is a terrible plan.”   
“Probably.”   
“I really don't like this.”   
“Don't worry, I'll catch up.”   
He knows she doesn't believe him and she probably knows he knows, but she starts the engine anyway.   
“Meg?”  
“Yeah, Ryan?”  
“It's worth it.”  
He doesn't watch her go. 

By the time he's finished setting the explosives, some people have noticed and his list of possible routes of escape narrows to just the river. That's ok, he's kinda always wanted to do the cool guy explosion jump. 

In the shocking silence of the water, he thinks to himself that he doesn't really want to work alone anymore.

+1  
The long days and wandering nights eventually find him in the City of Saints and sinners, with a heart attack of a crew and a permanent address. (It’s a bit like that moment of a rollercoaster drop when the sky is so so _big_ and gravity means nothing, and also a lot like home.)  
Today his crew is restless and _alive_ and planning another heist. Geoff gives him the rundown on the way up to the penthouse. They stop outside the door.  
“I got Jack to find us an infiltration specialist, cause Trevor is still on fucking vacation, and Mica’s doing… something.” Geoff pauses to squint into the middle distance and mutter something uncharitable. Ryan shuffles awkwardly and drums his fingers on the mask hooked on his belt. He is in no way responsible for the amount of explosives Mica wandered off with. Nope. “Anyway. She's apparently really good, and you can't shoot her. I'm serious. Do Not. Shoot. The Help.”  
“The last guy started it.”  
“You are gonna send me to early grave, Ryan. I thought it was gonna be Gavin, but it's you.”  
“Jeremy.”  
“Jesus Christ.”  
Geoff shoves through the door and Ryan follows, laughing.He stops in the doorway, frozen in place, because he is- _standing on the rooftop, midday glare in his eyes and gravel crunching under his boots, and her hair is fire on the wind_ -  
“Oh great, you're here, we can get started.” Jack's shift in attention causes the woman to turn. “This is-”  
“Meg.”  
He wonders desperately if the world has stopped turning for anyone else.   
“Ryan?”  
(“Jack??!”)  
She's a across the room and in his arms in an instant.   
She looks up at him and smiles and the world starts spinning again. 

(A car pulls up next to him during the great escape.  
“Going my way?” she asks.  
“Always,” he answers, and slides into the passenger seat.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still really upset i had to get rid of the line in the draft that read: screams and explosions and then i personally throw Ryan Haywood into a river  
> anyway.  
> thank you my dudes!  
> P.S. thanks @samundomiel/curitagravis and everyone else i made to read this.  
> except you, Maddy. you tried to fuckin read it out loud.  
> P.P.S. If you're reading this and you're in it, we need to talk.


End file.
